It was another of those great TV moments. Embedded reports filming as the “last”
brigade of American troops in Iraq cross the border into Kuwait bringing over
seven years of unhappy conflict to its final, conclusive end. America was, at
last, at peace.

It was perhaps a different sort of scripted, mythical end to the Iraq War
than the last one, the May 1, 2003 “Mission
Accomplished” speech of President Bush, but it was no more real, as over
50,000 US troops remain on the ground in Iraq tonight.

The “end of the war” may bring some measure of relief to the American people,
but it must be something of a sombre moment for those 50,000 troops, as they
continue to go into combat operations with the bulk of the American public
believing, because their president told them so, that the war is over and combat
operations have ended.